WARNING

We watched from 12 time zones away as Hurricane Sandy over five days moved toward and finally hit the East Coast of the USA. We were thankful that people had plenty of warning before this very unusual, very large storm struck the mainland. We were also thankful that Jeannie, Chris and Amara just a few months ago moved from lower Manhattan (flooded pretty badly) to upper Manhattan.
On this same weekend, a typhoon came ashore. It was predicted several days ago to hit North Vietnam. We received significant rain and some wind in Hanoi but no damage. However today a Vietnamese friend dropped by our offices and told of very serious destruction in the area where his family lives; two hours east and south of Hanoi near the coast.
They and their neighbors received no news of an approaching typhoon. Everything seemed very calm on Sunday. He told of how his family was playing outside in the late afternoon. Life was normal at 6:00 pm and the destructive typhoon hit at 7:00.
He showed a picture of one house window completely blown out. His flat roof lost some tiles and leaked water. Many others who who had a peaked roof lost their whole roof. He laughed about people walking around trying to find the roof that belonged to them, their doors or other belongings. It was a very costly typhoon for all of them. He has money to make home repairs but said most factories or stores that usually would sell what he needs are also trying to recover from damage.
Beyond the loss and the costs, how sad that for whatever reason these folks had received no typhoon warning. They had no chance to prepare. What a contrast with the many days of hurricane warnings provided for all Americans living on the East Coast. It does not seem fair.
The parallel regarding the availability of God's Good News is pretty obvious. In North America those who are seeking Christ have a choice of many different churches in easily identified buildings. They are fairly likely to have a nearby neighbor or colleague from work who is a believer. We know of course that they may still not be exposed to the Good News.
But here, the possibility of not hearing and of not knowing is so much greater. Young people here know a lot about the world through television and the internet. But my friends who work on university campuses report that better than 95% of their students have no knowledge of Jesus or the Bible.  For them it is as though no one ever brought life changing Good News; as though life can only be lived in what is "normal" for them. They have no knowledge of the God who loves them and the Saviour who died for them. It does not seem fair.

THE FAMILY OF GOD

Our two congregations joined together for a Sunday service and Family Fun Day last week. We rented a school with an auditorium large enough for us all. Many from both congregations served as greeters, ushers, security, etc. A combined group led worship; our youth worship team played and sang the offertory; three university students read Scripture.
Lunch was potluck with four or five regional or country tables offering international food. Two cafes managed by Christians offered some "for purchase" food as well. Following lunch, there were games for the children (have you ever tried to pick up marbles with chopsticks?) and a basketball court for teens and adults. We were glad it was a large gym since there was a steady rain as a result of a typhoon that came fairly close to Hanoi.
It was good to worship, eat and play with our church family. "I'm so glad I'm a part of the family of God." That old Gaither chorus resonates with many of us. While the New Testament uses the word translated family or household infrequently (see Galatians 6:10; Ephesians 2:19; I Timothy 5:8), the concept of spiritual family is very strong. We are taught to call God our father. We are adopted as His children. Jesus is our brother.
Many have noted that sometimes we put too much emphasis on the natural family in North American churches. It is important in a society of fractured families to do what we can to encourage and strengthen families. However our churches should surely focus on the family of God to which every believer belongs.
This emphasis is easier here in Vietnam when almost all of us are far away from family except for parents who have school aged children with them. We all experience the longing to be closer to our families. But as Jesus taught, our love for Him must be stronger than our love for family members. And as the Bible makes clear, it is our faith family that will last - forever.
Lets make sure our local church family encompasses everyone equally, irrespective of what their natural family ties are. Lets make sure that while we highly value natural family ties, we don't lose sight of the great importance of our forever family!

SURPRISING ASSIGNMENTS

Are you ready? Ready for whatever assignment God gives to you next? Are you willing? Willing to go, willing to do whatever your next assignment is? Are you able? Able to open yourself up to the Spirit so that if He leads you "outside the box" of your present life plans you will follow?
In three consecutive chapters, the book of Acts describes four assignments that did not make logical sense; assignments that came as somewhere between quite surprising to absolutely, totally shocking for the men involved.
The first assignment was given to Philip (Acts 8). Through him God was doing amazing things in an unnamed city in Samaria. Crowds listen closely to the Good News as Philip preached; they were amazed as Philip performed miracles of healing and cast out demons. people were healed and demons were cast out. At the news of this, Peter and John were sent from Jerusalem by the apostles. And Philip was sent by an angel - surprise - to a desert highway!! From miracles and crowds he was assigned to hitch-hiking with an important government official from Ethiopia.
In Acts 9 we read the familiar story of Saul's conversion. From leading persecutor of the Jewish Christians he is given the assignment to become the apostle to Gentile pagans! None of those early Christians could have guessed; Saul himself could never have guessed, that Jesus would reach down, revolutionize his life and send him to preach Jesus to much of the Roman world. Nor could Saul have known how much persecution he himself would suffer for the cause of Christ.
And of course, there is a supporting Jewish Christian actor tucked into that dramatic Saul to Paul conversion drama. His name is Ananias. His assignment was simple: go and place hands of healing on the well known man who had come to Damascus; the man with the reputation and the assignment to arrest and deport Jewish Christians!
In the next chapter the main actor is Peter. He was proud that he had always eaten only kosher food. No doubt he was also proud of the fact that he had not contaminated himself with Gentile relationships. God first told him the surprising news that OT dietary laws were cancelled. Then he was given the shocking assignment to go to a Gentiles house, share the Good News with them and baptize them.
Surprising, shocking assignments. Yet all four men were willing to obey, even if at least two of them were quite reluctant. None of those assignments were the next natural thing on their planned life journey. But they did not miss what God wanted them to do.
God often leads in ways that are surprising, startling, even shocking. Are you ready? Are you willing? Do you have a spiritual mindset that will allow you to recognize it if God leads you to reach out to some unlikely person; step into some difficult leadership role; resign from a comfortable position; move to an uncomfortable place? Don't miss God's surprising assignment for you!

JUST TRUST HIM

I woke early this Sunday morning and while eating my orange and bananas began to listen to worship music. I clicked onto YouTube to an old hymn sung by Selah which has five poetic verses written long ago. If you've sung many hymns then you've probably sung the verse of this one.

Be still, my soul: thy God doth undertake
To guide the future, as He has the past.
Thy hope, thy confidence let nothing shake;
All now mysterious shall be bright at last.
Be still, my soul: the waves and winds still know
His voice Who ruled them while He dwelt below.

I love those last two lines. They immediately transport me to the Sea of Galilee, 2000 years ago. The story is familiar. I picture the disciples with Jesus in the boat, tossed on large waves blown by powerful winds. It was a storm bad enough to frighten these young but very experienced fisherman/sailors. It looked like they would be swamped and would drown. Yet Jesus was sleeping peacefully in the middle of the storm.
The disciples did not yet know Jesus well enough - or perhaps they just did not trust Him enough. Either way they call for Him to wake up. Did they want Him to simply worry with them? Or did they actually believe He could help them? Save them? How? What did they expect?
Then Jesus spoke to the winds and the waves like a parent might speak to a misbehaving child. And at the voice of the Creator, the wind stops and the sea becomes calm. And the disciples are astounded!
Is your life caught in a storm right now? In your anxiety, does it seem to you like "Jesus is sleeping and doesn't care?"Do you feel like there is no way out and no way through?
Remember "the waves and winds still know, His voice who ruled them while He lived below." Remind yourself of this great truth. Talk to your self: "Be still my soul."

NEVER STOPPED

I realize that many Christians in the west don't have any personal experience with harassment or persecution for their faith. In fact many of us may not even know anyone personally who has paid a significant price for following Jesus. So when we read the story of the early church in Acts, it does not resonate with where we live.
However we need to make the effort, as with all biblical stories to identify with the characters. To have the stories come alive for us we need to ask questions such as: "What was it like to go through that situation?"; "How much was their faith tested or how much did they hesitate?"; "If that was me, what would I do?" Some biblical stories may seem irrelevant to us but terribly relevant to other followers of Jesus.
The Jewish leaders in Acts 3 - 8 were first disturbed by the healing of the man who was crippled for 40 years.  After a healing encounter with Jesus through the Apostle Peter, the excited man kept walking and jumping for joy and drew a large crowd to whom Peter preached. You know what happened next. The healing miracles continued apparently through all of the apostles and the church experienced explosive growth. People began coming from the surrounding towns to experience these amazing miracles.
This was "disturbing of the peace" greatly disturbed the religious leaders. So all of the apostles were all arrested and imprisoned. They were freed from prison miraculously but then arrested again.
As I read the account in Acts 5 today, I four phrases among many stood out in this exciting, encouraging story. Here are three of them.
"We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name,”; "Then they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus"; "they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Messiah."
How impressive is the the apparently unhesitant manner in which the apostles continued to do what God had called them to do. Told in no uncertain terms by the most powerful Jewish leaders "stop talking about Jesus"; whipped painfully to underline and emphasize this command; Yet they could not be stopped.
The leaders were too blind to see that their God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob was powerfully at work. Sadly they were too deaf to hear with understanding the warning from one of their own. They could not, they would not see the hand of God in spite of this wise advice.
"Therefore, in the present case I advise you: Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God.”
We look back and recognize that the apostles are rightly "heroes of the faith", willing to suffer anything as they faithfully lived for Christ. Right now, in places you may never heard of, there are others who are similarly becoming "heroes of the faith." Pray for them.

SOMEWHERE TODAY

I love the story about the healing of the man who had been crippled since birth. Begging for some money, he receives total healing through the Apostle Peter. Then follows a crowd, a great sermon, prison and religious courtroom scene. Peter and John are disturbing the religious peace. They are raising a major problem for the Jewish leaders by speaking about the raising of Jesus. Thus the religious leaders demand that they stop speaking and teaching in Jesus name. In response Peter and John give the wise and courageous reply:

 ^"But Peter and John replied, “Which is right in God’s eyes: to listen to you, or to him? You be the judges! As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.” Acts 4:19, 20

In this case the Apostles were simply threatened some more by the authorities and set free. Somewhere today in one country or maybe in a dozen countries, our spiritual brothers and sisters will be facing a similar situation. Somewhere today and each day followers of Jesus are being told they must stop following Him. They must stop speaking the Good News and telling others about "what we have seen and heard." To obey God may be very costly. Please pray for them.

IMPOSSIBLE

Despite what some positive thinking, motivational coaches want you to believe, some things are simply impossible. We encourage young people to dream big and reach for large goals. Yet it is impossible advice "You can be anything you really want to be." If you lack strong innate musical gifting you will never be a world class musician. If you don't grow beyond 172 cm. you will never be an NFL quarterback. (Our Lord's statement to his disciples that "all things are possible for those who believe" must be understood in context.)
Some things are simply impossible. Millions of people are trying to please their god by doing good deeds, giving money to the poor, offering sacrifices of fruit and vegetables, going to the temple, etc. However the Bible says:
And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to himmust believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.Hebrews 11:6
We cannot earn our way to God; we cannot meet His standard of perfection by our own efforts. We cannot enter an eternal relationship with the living God without faith.
This morning I was reading about the early church. Luke's "history of the early church" follows just weeks after the Lord's death and resurrection. I love the use of "impossible" found in Peter's message, the very first post-resurrection sermon.
But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him. Acts 2:24
We regularly hear reports of amazing modern medical miracles. Special "miracle drugs" are produced; special life saving surgeries are pioneered. People terribly wounded in war or in accidents are saved from death by wonderful new interventions. Yet there still comes a day when any and all physicians have to acknowledge: "it is impossible to save her/him" and their patient dies. All of us, just like our ancestors, will one day be in the grip of death, no matter what we or anyone else does.
But Christ "laid down his life". What we cannot avoid, He freely chose: the way of death. He died on the cross choosing to become vulnerable, weak, helpless, and apparently defeated by death. Yet death "could not keep Him in its grip". It was impossible. How could the author of life be defeated by death? (Acts 3:15) Impossible. Oh yes, I love the word impossible.

SECRET BELIEVERS

Jesus said that if we deny Him before people, He will deny us before the Father in heaven. So what do you think of those we call "secret believers". What do we think - more important, how should we pray for those who are secret believers.
I can empathize with Christian teens who are fearful of identifying as a believer because their "crowd" mock anyone who is a Christian. I recognize that some Christian men stay silent about their faith because their co-workers in the factory or on the faculty, on the job site or in the office, ridicule anyone who is a "born againer". Evangelicals have a bad name in much of North America and Europe and it is not comfortable to be identified as a follower of Jesus.
I am glad that Joseph was there to take care of the body of Jesus after the crucifixion. Joseph, who was "a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jews." Joseph was helped by Nicodemus who was also, as far as we know, a secret disciple. John 19:38, 39 Was that when they finally "came out" and were known as Christ followers?
Secret believers need our prayers. For those in North America or Europe perhaps all we need to pray for is courage - courage to "risk their reputation", to risk losing a few friends and in worst cases perhaps losing a job promotion.
But in other parts of the world, secret believers know their is much more at stake. How would you advise someone who has just come to faith living in a country where, when they identify as Jesus followers they are likely to be disowned by their family; perhaps killed by a family member protecting the "family honour"; perhaps arrested and imprisoned or even executed by authorities; perhaps have their children taken from them?
Is there a time and place when it is OK, to be a secret believer? What about the example of Naaman in II Kings 5:18, 19? These questions can only be easily answered in a classroom far from any persecution. But they are questions some are asking today, for themselves - at personal and family risk.
How would you advise parents who know that if they identify as believers they may lose the monthly government financial help that everyone else in the village receives; their children may not be allowed to attend the best schools and may be denied university entrance?
Should they "come out" as believers? If so, when should they do that? If so, how should they do it?

Secret believers in many countries need our prayers. Prayers for courage but especially for great wisdom and clear guidance by the Holy Spirit. Pray for mature believers who give them counsel.

STILL ON THE CROSS

Yesterday I was reading in John 19. My normal daily pattern is to read Scripture for a while and then spend time in prayer and meditation. However I had just read Jesus cry from the cross, "It is finished" when I was interrupted. My reading stopped abruptly with Jesus still on the cross.
Still on the cross or still in the grave - what a vast difference if the Christ story, our story stopped there. It stops there for every other human story. Of course there are medical miracles where a heart that has stopped beating is shocked into starting again; where a person officially declared dead is revived or brought back to life. And there are (most often in developing countries) many accounts of dead people miraculously rising to life (like Lazarus) in answer to passionate, believing prayer. But all of these people eventually die and stay dead. Memory of them lives on but their story ends there.
Jesus, still on the cross or in the tomb. Dying like any other human - end of His life, His story. Sadly there are some who attend churches and some churches led by pastors who do not believe that Jesus "on the third day rose again". Rose physically, to appear to dozens of disciples over a period of several weeks. Rose to new life as the "first fruits" of all who believe in Jesus. Their "faith" is devoid of the miracle so factually reported in the Gospels and asserted as so fundamental to Christian faith in I Corinthians 15. Sadly of course churches like that are mostly small and growing smaller. They seldom send people across culture to declare the Good News because what they believe lacks the core of the Good News.
But today I celebrate the Resurrection with renewed appreciation. When I hit "publish" on this blog, I will pick up my Bible and keep reading, starting at John 19:31. My reading today moves on from the Cross to the Resurrection. Those devastated early disciples during some very long hours thought their story had stopped at the Cross. But then came Resurrection morning! I know, we know that the Cross was not, is not the end of the story. Don't ever let the Resurrection become just another "ho hum" part of your Christian knowledge.
Jesus is alive! We serve a risen Saviour! We live with the certain hope of life beyond the grave in the eternal presence of our living Lord! Every day brings renewed joy to a believer - Jesus is alive and we too will live, with Him, forever! 

WITH HIM

Jesus wants you with Him for all eternity. Isn't that shocking? Can you believe it? With all of our laziness, self-centredness, small thinking, innumerable limitations and sins, still Jesus wants us to join Him and His Father.
We are made for relationships because our Triune God has always been in relationship, Father, Son and Spirit. One thing about healthy relationships: you want to share experiences. Like healthy families that want to share the joy of Thanksgiving or Christmas together. Like friends who want to travel together through Europe or Asia. Sharing!
The Lord's prayer in John 17 is, like the chapters that precede it, packed with amazing deep truth. I've studied it, preached a series of sermons on it and yet still feel I've barely begun to understand it. So much that Jesus prays brings comfort and encouragement to believers of all generations. You do remember that Jesus prayed not just for his disciples then, although surely they were most on his mind. Jesus also prayed for us; "for those who will believe in me through their message." 17:20 That includes you and me!
Toward the end of this chapter we hear Jesus pray:
“Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world." 17:24
 How wonderful, how marvellous: Jesus wants all of us to be with Him and to see Him there - not in the weakness of the humanity He shared with us; not in the helplessness of His death on the cross - but on that day to see Him in all of His glory. What a day that will be! Jesus wants us to be there with Him!

SECURE JOY

Have you recently read through John 14, 15, 16? I did this morning as part of my devotional time. There is a saying that describes being overwhelmed by too much, or too intense information. "It feels like drinking from a fire hydrant." Whew, I felt like that this morning. There is such an amazing abundance of truth and spiritual insight in these chapters. No wonder the disciples were at times confused.

From these rich deep chapters, I choose just one thing on which to comment: "joy and rejoice." One primary NT Greek word (noun and verb) for joy occurs about ten times in these chapters. Jesus is making it clear that the joy He promises to his disciples contrasts with the joy the world offers. He wants them to experience a joy that is complete or full. (15:11; 16:24; also 17:13) He promises that this joy He provides cannot be taken from them. (16:22)

What a contrast to the happiness/joy that we all naturally experience as humans. Happiness/joy can be very superficial like what I feel when enjoying a large bowl of ice cream. It can also be very deep like the happiness/joy someone feels when getting married or when holding their newborn child. At times in these deeper moments of natural happiness/joy people may say "I feel complete."

But we know that even these deep human happiness/joys are not guaranteed to last. And they really can't "complete" us. Too many marriages endure great pain and betrayal. A large percentage dissolve and leave deep wounds and sadness. The happiness/joy of parenting becomes a very painful bitter experience when a teen age child or young adult child rebels. Angry devastating words and hurtful actions that break the relationship steal all the happiness/joy of parenthood.

So we turn to Jesus, the only One who can provide a deep inner joy that makes us truly complete and feels complete. He is the only One who provides this joy that no one and nothing can steal. Countless Christians have testified that in the midst of the most terrible pain and suffering the joy Jesus gives remains very real, sometimes especially real in the midst of their worst days.

Nothing seems secure in our rapidly changing world. But we who have entered a faith/obedience relationship with Jesus are secure. We daily experience His wonderful secure joy even when we are far from being happy. "The joy of the Lord is our strength." 

 

GIFT OF MUSIC

On this warm Thursday evening, Jan and I have just returned from a concert at the Hanoi Opera House. We were given tickets by a Korean friend to enjoy an orchestra combining the Hanoi Orchestra with a visiting orchestra from Korea. One part of the program featured a Vietnamese violinist, a Korean cellist and a Russian pianist playing Beethoven beautifully together.
As I listened to this lovely music I was reminded of our present sermon series on Nehemiah. This Sunday we will cover Nehemiah chapter twelve which features great musical celebration (although in contrast to this evening, they did not have a mixture of ethnic groups.)
 That chapter records Nehemiah organizing a major celebration because the city walls have been restored along with God's honour. Two choirs are featured along with percussion and string instruments. Add in some priests playing trumpets and it must have been quite a joyous celebration.   Political and religious leaders joined the musicians in procession on top of the city wall. (City walls were build wide as well as tall!) When they finished, men, women and children joined in with loud, joyful worship and praise
Thank God for the great gift of music and for those who are especially gifted with musical talent. Nothing quite moves us the way music does. Music plays such a valuable role in our worship.
Orchestral music, worship bands, Israeli choirs marching on top of a wall with great music - praise God from whom all blessing flow.

OTHER SHEEP

John 10 contains the lovely discourse presenting our Lord as our Good Shepherd and we who follow as His sheep. He affirms strongly that He knows His sheep and His sheep know Him. Again He asserts that His sheep listen to His voice; He knows them and they follow Him.
The Good Shepherd also states:
"I have other sheepthat are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd." John 10:16
In the context, I suspect most commentators would agree that Jesus is speaking to a Jewish audience and the "other sheep" are the Gentiles who will believe as the Good News spreads. However we also know that the Gentiles are not just one ethnic group of non-Jewish people. As the Good News has spread not just around the Mediterranean but around the world, people from every nation and tribe have joined the great, growing flock.
Situated in SE Asia, we are in a part of the world where the church is still growing - sometimes very rapidly. Occasionally I speak with non-Christian Europeans living here. They are shocked to learn that 400 expats gather with us every week to worship Christ. They are further shocked to know that the majority are under age 40. Then I add to their surprise when I tell them the Vietnamese church is also growing, and most rapidly among those under age 25.
Many Europeans have knowledge only of small aging congregations. They are not aware that Jesus has many "other sheep" who are still being brought into His eternal fold. Of course as with Europeans, so many Canadians and Americans think the "church is dying". Don't all the polls tell them so? Maybe the church is declining in North America, following hard after the example of Europe. But it is not so in much of the world.
If you get discouraged by what you see around you; by what you read or hear from the media; by what may be happening in your church if it is declining; take heart. The Shepherd is still gathering millions of sheep into His fold. And "there shall be one shepherd and one flock."

WRITTEN ON THE GROUND

I first learned in seminary that the opening verses of John 8 were textually suspect. Although appearing in many ancient manuscripts of the Gospel, the first eleven verses were not found in the most reliable, most ancient ones. It appears that John probably did not write those words but that they were added sometime later. For this reason I've never preached on this passage.
Nevertheless, this powerful story about a woman caught in adultery paints a picture of Jesus that certainly "fits" with all we know about Him. How kind, merciful and forgiving Christ was to all of those that the religious people categorized as "sinners". In what He did as well as what He taught, Christ made it clear that He truly came to "seek and to save those who were lost."
This ancient story intrigues us. We might wonder about several things but what is most open to speculation is "what did Christ write on the ground"? As the woman's accusers wait for Christ to pronounce righteous judgment, He silently writes on the ground. Was it a list of sins? Sins that the accusers had committed? We'll never know - at least not this side of eternity.
What we do know and enjoy is the fact that all the accusers disappear, and the woman stands alone with Christ. She stands before the only perfectly Righteous Human; the One who never sinned. Alone with the One who some day will judge the world. And the Perfect One pronounced over her nothing but amazing mercy and grace. "Neither do I condemn you. Go now and leave your life of sin."
Probably it was not written by John under Divine inspiration. But does it sound like Jesus? It sure does. Very likely it is a true story. We just don't know. What we do know is that Jesus still offers amazing mercy and grace to people just like the woman in the story; to people just like you and me.

OUR GREAT GOD

I preached through several chapters of Nehemiah yesterday. Chapter nine gives us a wonderful lengthy prayer that appears to be offered by a group of Levites. Did they each pray part of it? Perhaps only one prayed on behalf of them all. It appears that this prayer is offered after the people in Jerusalem have listened to the reading of Scripture for several hours. Perhaps it also comes after they have spent another several hours in confession and worship.
The prayer is reminiscent of a number of OT prayers and psalms that rehearse some of Israel's history. God's action in protecting and blessing is contrasted with Israel's repeated disobedience and rebellion. It is a wonderful prayer, filled with great insights into both human sinfulness.
Although we should always try to read biblical passages with an awareness of the context of the book where they are found, I encourage you to jump into this chapter. Take time to slowly read, pausing on the many meaningful words or phrases. I will give you a start! In yesterday's sermon I asked the question: "Is your God big enough?" Then I listed the descriptive words and phrases found in this marvellous prayer. God's people, 450 years before Christ, recognized that their God was like this! They knew something about the gods, goddesses and idols that surrounding nations worshipped. No wonder they would sometimes write or say, "Who is a god like you?"
Do you personally enjoy both intellectually and emotionally our great God described in these words? Is your understanding and appreciation of God's greatness growing? Here are some of the descriptives found in Nehemiah 9.
The God who revealed Himself in creation, in history, in Scripture and ultimately in Christ is:

Gracious, Compassionate, Slow to Anger, Abounding in Love, Great in Mercy, Gracious, Merciful, Great, Mighty, Awesome and keeps His Covenant

CHRIST IS OUR LIFE

We are familiar with the very significant claim of Christ: "I am the way, the truth and the life." It was and is an audacious claim; an arrogant boast; a false statement - unless He is indeed the way, truth and life. We who believe and follow Him are convinced that Christ is all He claimed to be in that profound statement.

In Colossians 3, the Apostle Paul comments on the centrality of Christ to each of us. It is such a small comment, almost made in passing, that it is easy to gloss over when reading. But it caught my attention this morning. I wish Paul had stopped and enlarged on it.

"For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life ---." 3:3, 4

Can you explain what this little phrase means? Can you dig deep enough or think high enough to fully understand this? "Christ is your life." What does this mean theologically? What does this mean practically?

We know that a mysterious spiritual event takes place when we are "converted or born again." Our self that is self centred and dominated by sin dies and in Christ we are given new life, eternal life. This life depends on Christ and what He has done for us. This life proceeds from Him through the Spirit.

But as I live today, what does it mean to me? "Christ is my life." How often should I think of Him and offer thanks if He is my life? How often should I think of Him and ask for help if He is my life? How often should I think of Him and be humbled because He is my life! How often should I react differently because Christ is my life?

"Lord Jesus, I still too often forget that you are my life. Please by the Spirit remind me often. Thank you for the life you have given, are giving, will give to me